Author's Notes

Listen, I'm gonna pretend that there is more than one awesome person who proves they like the story, 'Kay? Cuz that's the only way I'll actually be able to finish it.

Please do leave reviews. It feels awful to think that only one person likes what you do (this doesn't mean I am ungrateful for that one person), so, if you like the story, review follow, the works.

Now that I've gotten that out of my system, let's get on with the story!

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Thomas' POV

The next red days were pretty busy. Simon found a way to turn his furnace into a stove, so now it was safe to cook inside. Eba and I built a kitchen, expanding the house to the left. Sarah proposed we have a cooking schedule. She would make breakfast, as well as gather meat for the other meals. Valory would cook lunch, and Simon actually offered to make dinner. Or at least help.

We used the iron ingots to make tools and weapons. Simon made clay molds for a pickaxe, and axe, and two swords. A shortsword and a broadsword. The pickaxe needed two ingots to fill, the axe one, the shortsword one and the broadsword two. I got a pickaxe and an axe. Eba got an axe, Sarah got a pick, and Simon got himself twin shortswords.

It was pretty shocking to see him without his hoodie, sweating up a river, and pulling out the clay molds from the big furnace. He had Eba teleport him and the molds to the river so they could cool. Before they hardened completely, he carved matching symbols onto the blades. I asked him about it when he showed them to us. "What do those mean?" He gave me one of them.

"Nothing, really. I just thought they looked cool, Y'know? To give them a personal touch." Eba looked like she was about to say something but then stopped. Sarah picked one up. "This is really good craftsmanship. How did you do it with just the mold?" Simon gave a cocky grin. "I'm a creeper. It's what we do. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to make sheaths."

He walked over to the storage shed and disappeared inside. I turned to Sarah. "We're going to need more metals for gear. I talked to Simon yesterday and we think we have an idea to have the house multi-floored." Sarah raised her beautiful eyebrows. "Really? Doesn't look like the current ceiling can hold up a person, much less an entire room."

I nodded. "Yeah, but we had an idea. He knows how to make a batch of nails with the iron, so we could make the planks lighter and tougher. This will also apply to the walls, so we don't have to worry about it caving in. Actually, we could swap out the crude walls of the bottom floor once we get enough metal. So, I was planning on having a mining trip. Simon would have said no before I finished my sentence."

Sarah nodded. "Alright. So, I'm guessing you want me to go with you, huh?" I looked away, a tad embarrassed. "Well, you and Lila, since she knows her way around a cave better than anyone. Valory is busy doing who-knows-what." She nodded again, and left to go inside, muttering to herself.

I walked over to Lila. "Hey. Feel up for a mining trip?" She thought for a few seconds. "Yeah, sure. I haven't been doing much, anyway." I nodded and handed her my old stone pick. "It may not look like much, but it's plenty sturdy." Lila smiled. "Yeah, no. That's not happening. Either you give the iron one or I won't go."

I made a mock frown and handed her the new pick. "Fine..." Right then Sarah came out of the house, her gold helmet gleaming in the sunlight. "Now I'm ready." Simon poked his head out from the storage shed. "Ready for what?" I looked at him "mining trip." His eyes it up, which surprised me. "Oh! I have something you guys might find useful."

He walked out, looking for something in his pockets. After some time he came up with a small vertical iron circle that had a candle in it. It was attached to some sort of stretchy band. "I had been messing with the idea for awhile. It needs a mirror, but I haven't been able to make one. It should still work regardless. May I?" He gestured to Sarah's helmet.

She nodded and handed the item over. He used the strap to attach the contraption onto the helmet. "There. All you have to do now is light it." Simon spoke as he put on one of his flint and steel leather gloves. Then he snapped his fingers in front of the gizmo, and a small spark lit the candle. "I'm not sure how long it'll last, so you better hurry." He handed Sarah her helmet and her returned to the storage shed.

The three of us were a bit surprised and confused, but we moved on regardless. Lila took us to a different cavern from the one we had gone down before. This one was a bit smaller, but it still lead us downward. Lila was always up front, and I guessed that she had no trouble seeing in the dark.

Simon's little lamp thing was pretty helpful, even without the mirror that was supposedly necessary. Sarah could see in front of her, and light up a small area too. I was carrying a lit torch, just in case her lamp burned out. We started hearing mob sounds the deeper we went, and it was very creepy. They mostly ignored us, for some reason.

We had collected a decent amount of iron, lots of coal and even a few bits of gold. Then, a creeper showed up in front of us, as if spawning out of nowhere. We tried to step back, but it was too late. The monster started flashing, and before we could run, it blew up. I rushed to stand in front of Sarah, as if I could be of any help against an explosion. The stone roof cracked and small bits of rock started pummeling us from above.

The entire cavern shook, and large stones started to fall down. In a matter of seconds, monsters and rocks were upon us. "Fuck! Hurry, we need to leave!" Sarah and I followed Lila as she ran ahead. Out of the blue, a massive boulder fell in front of us, separateing Sarah and I from Lila. The monsters behind us retreated after realizing that the stones could crush them too.

For a straight minute the walls and roof crumbled, dropping stones the size of baseballs on our heads. I could feel them bouncing off my aching back. I tried my best to shield Sarah from the projectiles, but I couldn't get very close because of her helmet-light. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the constant attack ceased.

Sarah ran up to the boulder and pounded her fists against it. "Lila! Are you okay?" We heard a muffled voice from the other side. "Yeah, I'm fine! How are you guys? Can you see?" Neither light source had been extinguished, which was very lucky. I answered Her. "Yes, we can see! And we're mostly alright, just a bit battered from all the rocks." Lila spoke again after some time. "Okay. I'll try to find a way to get to you guys. Be safe." We heard footsteps on the other side of the boulder, indicating that she could walk and was currently looking for a way to get at us.

I sat down leaning against the stone wall, heart pounding in my chest. There was a ringing in my ears, as if I had been standing right next to an explosion. Come to think of it, I was. Blood drained from my face, trying soothe my racing heart. I put my head in betweeen my knees, as I felt exhausted and nauseous. I saw Sarah crying against the rock wall, so I slowly crawled over to her.

I took off her gleaming helmet and stared into her lovely light grey eyes. The light from the torches made them glow silver, just like they had in the moonlight so many nights ago. Gleaming tears rolled down her pale cheeks. "I... this... I can't... I don't know what we're going to do..." she was shivering, and I'm not sure from what. The cave was very cold, but I wasn't shivering.

I tried to calm her down in an embrace, but she resisted. "Thomas! We have to... I mean, we need to... I want out!" I tried comforting her again. "Shhh... I know... it's fine. I'm scared too. I don't like this any more than you do, but Lila will get us out." She hadn't stopped crying, but now she took deep breaths to calm down.

"Y-you... don't k-know that. She might never find a way to get us out. M-maybe the monsters will get us first..." I tried hugging her again, and she didn't pull away this time. "No, don't think like that. She will get us out, I promise. We'll find a way to escape." She held her tears back, but it was no use. She started sobbing lightly again. "W-What if she doesn't??? Thomas, w-were six feet under! She'll never b-be able to dig through this r-rock!" I held her tighter. "Shhh... calm down, Sarah. We'll be fine, I'm sure of it."

She nodded, her face still gleaming with tears. I pulled away a little to wipe them off her cheeks. She looked me straight in the eye. "Thomas, I hate you with all my heart." I smiled at her. "Why's that?" She spoke evenly, despite the tears still running down her face. "You... you've always been the important one. The leader, builder, th-the goddamn people person! You've managed to make a freaking gang from scratch!"

Her eyes took on a sharp quality as she spoke, but I let her finish. "You and Eba built an amazing house together, you helped Simon with the furnace, the spiders are always loliggaging around you! And I just... I feel left out. I haven't done anything to improve the living conditions of... anyone. All my life I've only ever thought about myself. But you seem to care about everyone equally. Even me."

She looked at the rugged floor, her face turning a light red. "You helped me heal even though I tried to push you away. When I woke up, the first thing I did was hold a knife to your throat. But you stuck with me. For weeks, now, you've kept me around. And I feel like such a drag, a burden. The only useful thing I do is hunt and cook." The tears were returning now, with force. Her face turned deep scarlet, and it scared me.

I had never seen Sarah express her feelings, except for a couple of occasions. And not once had she looked as scared or vulnerable as right now. I always thought she was the strongest of us, the one pillar that I could always depend on to remain tough. "Sarah, you are useful to all of us. We know you'll do anything in your power to keep us safe. Your hunting and cooking keeps us healthy."

She looked up, her silvery eyes glassy. "You are Eba's best friend. Without you, I'm not sure if I could have made her help me." A light smile played at the corners of her lips. I slowly inched closer. "I would never force you to stay. You decided to stick with me, and I'm grateful for that. Without you, I don't think I would have survived for so long."

the smile widened on her face, and her perfect teeth reflected the light from the torch's flames. "I'm sure you would've. You made so many friends in a place thousands of miles from the nearest clan." I shook my head, feeling my own smile appear. "Doesn't matter. If you hadn't been there, I would never have left that forest. Never would've met the others. You were the catalyst that I needed, my missing piece."

Her blush deepened ever so slightly, and we both drew closer. "You are a good liar." My smile widened. "Never would tell a lie, not to you." Her arms looked around my neck, and we inched closer still. She closed her eyes, those magnificent black lashes gleaming in the light...

Then, the wall next to us shook, and cracked. We jumped in unison, quckily standing and separating, a blush deep on both our faces. The wall cracked further, and shattered.. Lila poked her head in. "Hey guys. A little help here?" We both picked up our tools from the floor and began to wear down the stone from our side.

After a short while, the boulder shattered. Lila stepped in, and hugged Sarah, then me. "I'm very glad that you're both okay. C'mon, I found a way out. Bring the metal, otherwise this whole trip will be a waste of time." This remark made the three of us smile, and we picked up the loot. It took a while, but after a few minutes, I could see the sunlight at the end of a tunnel.

Once we were out, I dropped everything and breathed in the fresh, fort air. "Finally, Some sunlight! It's like I can feel strength returning to my battered old bones!" Lila snickered, and Sarah put her hand on my shoulder. "You're weird, Thomas. Come on, we better get going." She had a smile on her face, and her cheeks had a tinge of red on them. I nodded, and the three of us walked home.

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Slightly Giddy Author's Notes

(Before the rest of the notes, I'm gonna say that I had trouble with this originally, but I scrapped it and started from scratch. This was the final product.)

I made an attempt at romance. Was it any good?

This chapter just flowed (flew?) from my fingertips. It felt great to finally know what to write after three days of sulking around. :P

Also, if you like Believer from Imagine Dragons, I implore you to listen to the Bass boosted version! It is more movy, and very energetic! :)

Anywho, thank you for your time, and good day! :D

~ LeMafiaKreb